[2008] using the +, ||, and * symbol in regex ruins my text?

[Icyculyr]

I am inserting spaces before and after text, using regex, to make operators be spaced, IE:
EDIT
I AM ALSO UNABLE to use the characters "(" and ")"
if (i>0) {}
becomes
if (i > 0) {}

now it works great, but if I add the characters ||, * or +, it adds like 20 spaces in my text and totally ruins it? I end up with something like
i f (i>0 ) {}

etc..

I am declaring the regex like this:

Dim rRegex As New Regex("\b||\b")

, as an example

Does anyone know why?